


You Were Built To Hold

by ShyAudacity



Series: reminiscent of a perfect mess [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alive Jason Blossom, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, American Sign Language, Asshole Reggie Mantle, Bisexual Betty Cooper, Break Up, Coming Out, Crushes, F/F, Friends to Lovers, HOH Jughead Jones, Heartbreak, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Kissing, Light Angst, Mentioned Chic Cooper, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Character Death, Pining, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Theres other ships but beronica is the focus!, Touch Averse Jughead Jones, Underage Drinking, hard of hearing character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-06 00:44:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15875050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyAudacity/pseuds/ShyAudacity
Summary: The bell rings above them and all of the students begin to scatter; Betty looks at Veronica, smiling again.“Thanks again, for helping me out. I’ll see you around?”“Y-Yeah,” Veronica stumbles, caught off guard by her grin.Betty walks off, almost immediately getting lost in the crowd of students; Veronica kisses Reggie goodbye before walking off towards her first period psych class, hoping that this year isn’t like all the rest.ORComplete series rewrite basically. What if Veronica had grown up in Riverdale and Betty had been the one to move to town? How would things be different?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Holy shit. This fic has been in the works for a while now and I'm so excited to start sharing it! I'm gonna try to update every week if I can. Please let me know if there's any tags you think I should add. Enjoy!
> 
> Beta'd by ao3 and tumblr user wingedbears and title from "Otsego County" by Neil Hilborn.

“Man, this year is gonna suck,” Reggie says. “I can’t wait for it to be over.”

It’s the first day of school. Everyone is bustling all around, trying to find their new classes, catch up with friends they missed over the summer. Veronica, Archie, and Reggie, however, are stalling as long as they as can before class, trying to hold onto the last few minutes of summer. They’re leaning against a wall of lockers, just watching, waiting for something to happen.

Veronica leans into Reggie, squeezes the arm that’s draped over her chest.

“Easy for you to say, _Senior_. At least you get to leave when this school year is over. Meanwhile, Archie and I will be stuck here all by our lonesome for another year with all of these goons.”

“We have other friends, Veronica,” Archie says, sarcastically.

“Besides the point,” she says; Archie chuckles.

The three of them have been friends for years; even before Reggie and Veronica started dating all of them had been close. They knew practically everything about each other, then again so does nearly everyone else in this small town.

Veronica’s family moved back to Riverdale from New York when she was five, and since then she’s always had the same neighbors, same classmates, the same boring faces that she sees day in and day out in this tiny town. It’s not a bad thing by any means, but sometimes she worries that her life is always going to look like this, that things are never going to be any different than they are right now.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees a blonde girl wearing a white t-shirt and jeans standing at the edge of the hallway, looking utterly lost.

“Now that’s a face I’ve never seen before,” Veronica remarks; both of the boys look in the blonde girls direction.

As if having heard her, said blonde girl walks right over to the three of them, looking perplexed.

“Sorry to bother you,” She says, tugging at her ponytail. “Where are the junior’s lockers?”

“Oh, uh, right behind you, this whole hallway, actually.”

She spins a little, taking in her surroundings, smiling at Veronica.

“Oh, thanks.”

Archie chimes in as she finds her locker on the wall behind her. “First day?”

“Is it that obvious?”

Archie and Veronica both laugh a little. Veronica says, “We don’t get a lot of new people around town, so yeah, it’s kind of obvious. What did you say your name was?”

“Sorry, right- I’m Betty. My cousin was supposed to show my sister and I around before school but then they both walked off without me. So now I’m alone in a school that I’ve never seen the inside of, lucky me right?”

Reggie scoffs, “Sounds like a bitch.”

“Reggie-.”

“Oh, no don’t worry about it-,” Betty tells her. “It’s fine, really. Besides, Cheryl can be a bit much sometimes.”

Veronica feels her chest go tight for a split second.

“Wait, did you say-.”

Before she can finish, a new voice erupts from down the hall. 

“Ugh, there you are Betty,” Cheryl says, stalking towards the group. “We’ve been looking all over for you, you completely missed my tour.”

“You and Polly are the ones who walked off without me, remember?”

“Regardless, I don’t have time before class to show you around so it’ll have to wait until after school- oh, I see you’ve already made some friends… Hi, Veronica.”

Veronica, who’d been keeping her head down since the moment Cheryl joined the conversation, doesn’t even bother to look up. She keeps her gaze focused on where she’s digging the dirt out from under her thumbnail.

“Hey.” She says, tone flat and unamused.

Cheryl glares at her for another second before growing bored, turning back to Betty.

“Betty, I’ll see you at lunch, assuming that you don’t get lost again. Boys… Lodge.”

Veronica looks up finally after she’s walked away, catching Betty’s confused glance.

“Are you guys friends?”

She clicks her tongue, “Not quite.”

Betty is about to ask what she means by that when a guy in a beanie brushes past her, nearly bumping into her.

“Shit,” Archie says, having remembered something. “I forgot to tell Jughead that Dad is working late tonight, I gotta go. It was nice to meet you.”

He directs the last part at Betty before taking off down the hallway, following after Jughead.

“Brothers?” Betty asks.

“Foster brother, I wouldn’t worry about it too much, Jughead’s not very social.”

“Yeah, only ‘cause he can’t talk,” Reggie mutters.

Veronica sticks her elbow in his ribcage a bit more forceful than need be.

“He’s hard of hearing, not tongue-less. Don’t be rude,” she says.

Reggie just looks at her funny; she’s been doing that a lot lately, snapping for no reason. Veronica chalks it up to stress more than anything else, tells herself that it’s just the daunting fact that her junior year is supposed to be her hardest one yet. Besides, she can always apologize for it later if need be.

The bell rings above them and all of the students begin to scatter; Betty looks at Veronica, smiling again.

“Thanks again, for helping me out. I’ll see you around?”

“Y-Yeah,” Veronica stumbles, caught off guard by her grin. 

Betty walks off, almost immediately getting lost in the crowd of students; Veronica kisses Reggie goodbye before walking off towards her first-period psych class, hoping that this year isn’t like all the rest.

 

 

Veronica and Archie are already sitting at their usual table when Betty walks in, standing amidst the already crowded tables. Veronica spots her almost immediately.

“Betty, hey,” She says. “Come sit with us.”

Betty sighs in relief. She’s halfway to the table when Cheryl tries to grab her attention from across the lunchroom.

“Betty! We’re over here,” Cheryl calls, far too demanding.

Betty stills, looking at Veronica, then at where Cheryl is sitting with a handful of other girls, then back to Veronica. Betty grows an almost devilish grin as she struts over to where Veronica is, making a slight show of it; she doesn’t doubt that Cheryl is rolling her eyes right now.

“Glad you decided to join us.” Veronica says.

“Thanks,” She breathes out. Betty winces as she looks over at Archie, “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name this morning.”

“Archie,” He says, hand out stuck out. “Don’t worry about it.”

Betty nods as she sits, then gestures behind them with her head, “Why doesn’t he sit with us?”

Both of them follow her gaze; she’s referencing Jughead who’s sitting alone, his face practically buried in his laptop.

“Jughead’s not very social.” Archie says, scraping out the bottom of a pudding cup. “If he wanted to sit with us we’d let him.”

It’s not a total lie,; Veronica has known him long enough to know that Jughead is an introvert in every sense of the word. In the last six months, though, ever since the incident that all but robbed him of his hearing, he’s shut himself away from almost everybody, including Archie and his dad.

She decides to change the subject.

“So, Betty, you mentioned Cheryl and your sister, any other family we should know about?”

“Just my older brother, Chic, and my parents; they just bought the newspaper here in town.”

“What about your brother, what does he do?”

“He uh-,” Betty stumbles over her words, rubbing at her temples. “He doesn’t do anything, he died earlier this year.”

Veronica throws her hand over mouth, nearly choking on her food and Archie’s eyes go wide next to her. Needless to say, that’s not what either one of them were expecting to come out of Betty’s mouth.

“Oh, my god, Betty, I’m so-.”

“It’s- it’s fine, really, you didn’t know… but if we could just drop it-.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Veronica assures her, sparing a glance over at Archie who just shrugs.

Betty busies herself with eating her lunch after that, ignoring Veronica’s gaze, obviously grateful that the conversation is over.

Veronica looks up to see Kevin walking in her direction- he catches her eye for a second before dropping it again, a frown spreading across his face. Kevin keeps moving until he’s reached Jughead’s table, the social pariah table so it would seem; Archie must see it happen because he leans over when Betty’s not looking, whispering to Veronica.

“Have you talked to him at all? Since what happened last year.”

Veronica shakes her head; near the end of last school year Kevin had been caught, by Reggie nonetheless, sticking a love letter into some football players locker, and by the end of the day practically the whole school knew about it. In a matter of hours, Kevin and Veronica went from being the best of friends to not even being on speaking terms.

Reggie had made it pretty clear that he wanted nothing to do with Kevin or his gayness, and Veronica didn’t have a clue as to what she could say or do to fix it, so she didn’t do anything. She just stuck by her boyfriend and kept her mouth shut whenever Kevin was around, let her boyfriend berate him, despite how it made her feel sick.

“You should talk to him, Ronnie, seriously.”

“And say what? I’m sorry that you got outed and my boyfriend thinks it’s gross so now we can’t talk or be friends anymore because of it? Yeah, I’m sure that conversation is gonna go over really well, thanks, Arch.”

Archie sighs, ready to say more when Betty interjects.

“Oh- shit.”

“What’s the matter?”

“I think there’s a problem with my schedule,” she says, packing up her stuff. “I should go to the office.”

“Oh, uh okay,” Veronica says. “We’ll see you around, maybe?”

Betty stops and smiles at her, licking her lips for a split second.

“Yeah… yeah, sure.” She says. “Thanks.”

Veronica nods; she feels something well up inside of her as she watches Betty walk away, but she can’t place the feeling. _Maybe it’s just the feeling having a new friend,_ she tells herself, _maybe Betty is just the kind of change that I’ve been needing._

 

 

Archie can barely get Jughead to stay in the same room as him for ten minutes let alone try and talk to him. He’s shut everyone out since the accident with his dad, since FP Jones got a little too drunk one night and then took it out on his son, hit him over the head with a glass bottle, leaving him hard of hearing in both ears.

Archie really wants to help his best friend but he doesn’t know how- Jughead just pushes him away every time that he tries. He assumes it’s because Jughead gets frustrated when he can’t understand what anyone is saying, but sometimes it feels like there’s something more to it, something that he’s missing.

Shortly before dinner that night, Archie goes into their shared bedroom, finds Jughead sitting at his computer like usual. For a second, he considers asking Jughead how his first day went, then decides against it, gets the feeling that the conversation wouldn’t go anywhere positive.

Archie taps him on the shoulder, waits for Jughead to turn around before speaking.

“Dad wants us to go next door and introduce ourselves to the new neighbors.”

Jughead squints at where he’s staring at Archie’s mouth, makes a _repeat_ motion with his hand.

Archie tries again, slower this time, “Dad wants us to meet the new neighbors.”

Jughead just sighs, getting up from his chair, muttering, “Forget it, I’ll ask him myself.”

It’s not the worst conversation that they’ve had in the last few months, honestly, but it could have gone better.

Two minutes later they’re standing on the neighbor’s front porch, waiting for someone to finally come to the door and-

“Betty?”

“Oh, hey,” She says, just as surprised as he is. “Archie, right?”

“The one and only. Sorry- I can’t believe I didn’t already figure out you’re our new neighbor, it’s not like anyone else has moved to town lately.”

“No, it’s okay, it’s not like it came up at lunch or anything- hey, aren’t you in my English class, sixth period with Miss Davis.”

“Yeah.”

“Would you wanna pair up for that short biography project she assigned us this morning? I’d ask Cheryl but she’s in a different class and I haven’t met anybody else yet.”

Archie laughs a little, “Sure, don’t worry about it- crap, sorry I was supposed to introduce you to-.”

He turns around, and Jughead is already gone, sitting in front of his computer again no doubt. Archie sighs; he can’t blame him, he wouldn’t want to stick around for a conversation that he can’t hear, either.  

 

 

The rest of the week goes by as boring as planned. Veronica gets familiar with all of her classes and Betty keeps sitting with her at lunch-; it’s not a bad start to the school year, all in all. That Saturday, Veronica goes over to Archie’s to do homework and she’s surprised to see Kevin leaving as she’s walking up the front steps. Once again, the smile drops from his face as he sees her.

“H-Hey, Kevin.” She tries.

“Hey, Veronica.” He says flatly.

It’s the most that they’ve said to each other since May, and Veronica can’t blame him for being upset- hell, she’d be more surprised if he wasn’t.

Kevin turns back to Archie in the doorway, “I’ll see you around, Arch.”

“Later, Kev.” He responds, shrugs when Veronica gives him a what the hell face. “What? Just cause you don’t hang out with him anymore doesn’t mean that I can’t.”

Veronica throws her hands up in surrender. “I’m not judging, just- can we just start already? I have more math homework than I know what to do with.”

Later, they’re in his room and Archie is doing his half of the biography project- or _icebreakers on crack_ as he’s decided to call it- trying to see what he can find with a just basic search given what Betty has already told him. He laughs a little where he’s sitting with his computer in his lap.

“Hey, Betty’s family is from the New York area, too.”

Veronica’s head pops up, “Really?”

“Yeah, her parents co-owned one of the newspapers right outside of- whoa.” 

“What? What is it?”

Archie gapes at her, suddenly at a loss for words. “What did Betty say that her brother’s name was?”

“Uh, Chic, I think. Why do you ask?”

He can’t tear his eyes away from the screen, “He got hit by a bus.”

“What?” Veronica gasps, getting to her feet in almost instantly. She stands over Archie’s shoulder, reading the article that he has pulled up on the computer.

_Chic Cooper, 26-year-old from Putnam County, died April the fifth after being struck by a city bus. He’s survived by his parents, Harold (Hal) and Alice Cooper, and two younger sisters, Polly and Elizabeth. The services are being held on Sunday the eighth._

Veronica feels sick to her stomach as she continues to read; it feels too personal, like she shouldn’t be reading it in the first place, but she can’t bring herself to stop. 

“This is so horrible,” She breathes out, twisting her hands around her pencil skirt. “I can’t imagine-.”

“I know,” Archie interrupts. “Me neither… we should probably tell Betty that we found out. She didn’t seem very adamant about telling us at lunch the other day, so it’s best that we tell her what we know, right? For her sake?”

Veronica nods, “Yeah, yeah we should.”

She’s not surprised that Betty didn’t want to tell her about this- losing someone like that, so sudden, so tragically- it must have been all kinds of horrible for her. Veronica only hopes that when she tells Betty about what she knows that she doesn’t freak out, that afterward she still gives Veronica that sweet smile that she’s already come to adore so much.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty spots him almost immediately once she’s walked into the cafeteria, the only table that’s mostly empty; it’s like people are afraid of him or something.
> 
> She plops down right in front of him, not missing the bug-eyed look that he gives her over the edge of his computer screen while she takes her lunch out of her backpack. Betty can see Veronica a few tables over, giving her that same bug-eyed look, mouthing what are you doing?
> 
> “Hey, you’re Jughead, right?” she tries. “We’re in the same math class.”
> 
> Jughead doesn’t even look up at her this time around, but she keeps going.
> 
> “I also just moved in next door to you and Archie, I think we missed out on the introductions the other day though-.”
> 
> Betty can tell that he’s had enough; not even two minutes in and Jughead is putting his laptop into his bag, getting up to go eat somewhere else, walking away from the table completely. Not knowing what else to do, she gets up, fully prepared to follow him. Halfway down the hall, she reaches for his arm and he yanks himself away from her, looking uncomfortable.
> 
>  
> 
> _Okay, _she thinks to herself, _so touching is a bad idea. Duly noted. _____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Thanks for all the love on the first chapter, I hope you guys like this one just as much!

Betty gives the teacher a sheepish look when she comes in late to her third period math class; to be fair, it’s only her second week at a new school and there’s more hallways than necessary. No sooner does she take her seat than does the teacher stop the lesson again.

“Mr. Jones,” Mr. Ashby says, looking right at Jughead. “You know the rule, no hats in my class.”

Betty watches from a few rows behind as he begrudgingly pulls off his beanie, has to keep herself from gasping when she sees what’s underneath.

There’s a pinkish, jagged scar that starts just above his left ear and trails down to the bottom of his hair line. That’s not the only one as far as she can tell- from this angle, she can almost make out another scar further up the back of his head on the other side, roughly the size of her thumb, just barely hidden by his mess of dark hair.

She wonders, quietly, of course, if that’s why he’s hard of hearing, wonders if someone did that to him, if that person even knows the lasting effect that it’s had on him. Betty files it away as _a question to be asked on a later day_ , then goes back to trying to pay attention to the equation on the board in front of her.

She does, however, decide that she’s going to sit with him at lunch next period, see if she can get him to open up, maybe make another friend out of it.   

Betty spots him almost immediately once she’s walked into the cafeteria, the only table that’s mostly empty; it’s like people are afraid of him or something.

She plops down right in front of him, not missing the bug-eyed look that he gives her over the edge of his computer screen while she takes her lunch out of her backpack. Betty can see Veronica a few tables over, giving her that same bug-eyed look, mouthing _what are you doing?_

“Hey, you’re Jughead, right?” she tries. “We’re in the same math class.”

Jughead doesn’t even look up at her this time around, but she keeps going.

“I also just moved in next door to you and Archie, I think we missed out on the introductions the other day though-.”

Betty can tell that he’s had enough; not even two minutes in and Jughead is putting his laptop into his bag, getting up to go eat somewhere else, walking away from the table completely. Not knowing what else to do, she gets up, fully prepared to follow him. Halfway down the hall, she reaches for his arm and he yanks himself away from her, looking uncomfortable.

 _Okay,_ she thinks to herself _, so touching is a bad idea. Duly noted._

Jughead speaks up for the first time only to spit out, “I can’t answer your question if I can’t actually hear you.”

He doesn’t make it another two feet before Betty is standing directly in front of him, holding her hands up just to get him to stop for a second, ready to go for plan B.

 _Do you sign?_ She asks.

Jughead looks a little stunned, pauses and looks around before answering back, _Yes. You do?_

 _There’s a history of hearing issues on my mom’s side of the family,_ she tells him _. All of us learned it as kids, a precautionary thing._

He looks apprehensive still, unsure what to make of this whole thing; Betty keeps going.

“I wanna help, Jughead,” she says, signing as she speaks. “I wanna help you out in any way that I can.”

He scoffs, rolls his eyes, then walks away from her. Much to his dismay, she follows him into some classroom, one with old news clippings and articles posted up on the walls.

“Why do you care so much?” He asks, voice strangled with the lack of use. “Why do I have to be your new project? Isn’t there someone else at this school that you could latch onto?”

Betty feels her throat close up as she tries to speak again, wonders if she actually wants to admit all of her dirty laundry to someone who doesn’t even want to be around her right now.

“You remind me of my brother,” she says, hoping it’s coming out clearly. “He spent a lot of time alone and never wanted to talk to anybody and …he started spiraling before anybody could stop it. I don’t want that to happen to anyone else. Does that make sense?”

Jughead makes a contemplative face, looks halfway ready to respond when Veronica and Archie walk in, having apparently followed them. Jughead takes this as his opportunity to leave, turning on his heel and not looking back even once, despite Betty’s protests.   

“Hey, w-,” Archie looks stunned to see Jughead all but running away. “What were you guys talking about?”

“Nothing that you’d be interested in.” Or Jughead for that matter, it would seem. “What’s up?”

Archie and Veronica share a weird look.

“We have to talk to you about something.”

“…Okay? What is it?”

Veronica bites her lip, then jabs Archie in the ribs with her elbow; he clears his throat, still trying to think of how to start the conversation.

“You guys are acting so weird, just spit it out.”

“Well,” Archie tries, “You see, I was working on our English project over the weekend, doing research and stuff and I saw this article that, uh… Betty, I know that your brother was hit by a bus.”

She stiffens, feels her stomach bottom out.

“Oh.”

“Ronnie only knows because she was there as my house when I saw it.”

Her throat has gone ridiculously dry in a matter of seconds. “D-Did you guys tell anybody else?”

Veronica shakes her head. “No. No, we didn’t tell anyone. It seemed like private business.”

Betty nods, sighs a little- still trying to convince herself not to panic. At least they don’t know everything, they must have not read very far.

“Well, um- thanks for letting me know,” she says. “I appreciate it.”

“Sure thing, B.”  

The bell rings above them.

“Shit,” Archie says. “I should go. If I’m late again then Madam Turner is gonna give me detention. I’ll see you guys later.”

Veronica turns back to Betty once he’s gone.  “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, just- I’m glad that you told me, about what you read. C’mon, we’re gonna be late for class.”  

It’s not everything that she wants to say, not by a long shot- but Betty isn’t sure that she’s ready to tell the full story of her brother’s death, or that she’ll ever be. It’s not easy to admit what Chic did, that he was fully aware of what he was doing when he walked out into the middle of oncoming traffic. Betty still gets sick to her stomach just thinking about it, about that day- the day that she wishes more than anything she could go back in time and undo.

 

 

When she’s not at school, Veronica spends the majority of her time at Pop’s- maybe to an unhealthy extent, but she doesn’t care- this is her happy place. Just as well, most of her time at Pop’s is also spent sharing a milkshake with Reggie, sharing a booth and sitting as close as they can to each other.

Today it’s a peanut butter milkshake- Veronica’s favorite. They’re not even halfway finished with it when Jughead walks into the diner, and Reggie spots him almost immediately.

“Hey, Jones!” He calls across the restaurant. “Heard the new Fall Out Boy album? Everyone says it’s a smash.”  

Jughead doesn’t even acknowledge him, no surprise there; Veronica turns her head towards Reggie, giving him a disappointed look.

“Why do you do that?” She asks. “He can’t even hear you all the way over there, what’s the point in berating him. You’re not gonna get a response.”

Reggie furrows his brow, looking confused by what she said.

“It’s just a joke, Veronica. Since when do you care? It’s not like you guys are friends.”

She’s ashamed that she doesn’t have a good reply to what he’s said, so Veronica goes with being quiet, barely speaks up for the rest of her date. She sticks to stirring her milkshake and staring absently at her phone, tries to act like it’s not eating at her to see her boyfriend treat people this way.

 

 

Archie and Betty are at Pop’s, putting the final touches on their project for English. An hour in, Archie’s phone buzzes on the table.  

“It’s Veronica. Is it cool with you if she joins us?”

“Sure,” Betty says. “I don’t mind.”

“Cool,” Archie says, smiling as he shoots back a text.

“You and Veronica are pretty close.”

“Yeah, we’ve known each other basically our whole lives so it makes sense.”

“Have you guys ever like, dated or anything?”

Archie laughs a little; Betty laughs lightly in return, albeit, awkwardly.

“What? Why is that funny?”

“I don’t know, it just- hadn’t ever thought about it. Ronnie’s been my best friend forever, at some point I think we both just decided that dating would just mess everything up. Besides, even if I wanted to, I don’t think she would want to date me anyway.”

“Why do you say that?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know, just cause of the way that she acts, I guess.”  

Archie doesn’t say anything else about it, so Betty lets the conversation drop. She does, however, wonder to herself if there’s more to Veronica than she had originally realized. Maybe there’s more in store for her in this town than she ever could have imagined.

 

 

The rest of the week goes by easily enough; everyone is back into the feeling of being at school again and Betty somehow manages to get Jughead to let her sit with him at lunch, albeit begrudgingly. Veronica and Betty walk to Betty’s after school that Friday, swapping stories about times before they knew each other.

“I can’t believe you punched Archie in the nose.”

“I only I did it because he bet me that I couldn’t throw a punch,” Veronica laughs, “I proved him wrong and we’ve been best friends ever since.”

“Speaking of friends… what’s the deal with you and Cheryl? Every time that she’s around you start acting weird, you both do. Did something happen between the two of you?”

Veronica bites her lip, contemplating whether or not she wants to do this.

“Cheryl’s father tried to get mine arrested last year.”

“What?” Betty exclaims.

“Clifford Blossom and my dad used to be business partners. So, by association, Cheryl and I were friends, best friends even. They had a falling out; Daddy tried to leave the company and Mr. Blossom wouldn’t let him, then the lawyers got involved. One thing lead to another and the next thing I knew my Dad was being put in handcuffs and being charged with fraud and embezzlement.”

“Oh my god.”

“The charges were dropped, thankfully, but I haven’t spoken to Cheryl since- except for the first day of school. I couldn’t be friends with someone who would keep such a big secret.”

“Wow,” Betty says, still stunned, “I can’t imagine what it must have been like to grow up here… I almost wish that I’d had the chance to, maybe then things would be different.”

“Like with your brother?”

She nods, her smile turning into a twisted line.

“I can’t even fathom losing someone like that,” Veronica states. “That must have been so horrible for you, for your family.”

“Yeah…”

Betty stops walking in the middle of the road not even twenty feet from her house; Veronica halts with her, seeing her disdain.

“B? What is it? What’s wrong?”

She swallows harshly, “I wasn’t totally honest with you the other day, about my brother, he- he didn’t just get hit by that bus, he stepped in front of it.”

Veronica gasps. “Oh, my _god_. Betty, I-.”

“I’ve been so angry with him these last few months, for dying- for leaving like he did. I keep asking myself how I didn’t know that he was going to do this. Like, maybe if I’d just said something to him then none of this would have happened, you know? Maybe he’d still be here. If I hadn’t been so wrapped up in my own world then maybe he wouldn’t have killed himself.”

“Is that why you guys moved to Riverdale? To get a fresh start?”

“Part of it,” Betty mutters, dragging her shoe against the pavement.

“What do you mean?”

She pushes her tongue against the inside of her cheek, looking conflicted, then sighs before saying:  “I got outed at school last year.”

Veronica feels a pang in her chest, a sense of panic and something else she can’t put a name to flooding her senses.

“Wait, you’re-?”

“Bisexual? Yeah. This girl who had it out for me catfished me online pretending to be some girl from Indiana and then made prints of all our messages and showed them around the whole school. People starting calling me Confused Cooper, made jokes about how I couldn’t pick a side.”

She has to force herself to not swallow her own tongue, “Oh my god, Betty, that sounds horrible.”

“That’s not even the worst part. All of my friends just turned their backs on me as soon as it happened, it was like overnight all those years being friends just disappeared, flew out the window. None of them would even talk to me- it was some of the worst moments of my life, honestly. I’m just glad to be away from there.”

Veronica feels all kinds of guilty, thinks for a second about telling her everything that happened with Kevin, then decides against it. She doesn’t want to lose a friend within the same two weeks that she made one. That would be a new low, even for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why I always insist on making my characters suffer, but alas, here I am.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Later, once the parents have retreated to another room, Betty strikes up a quiet conversation with Cheryl. “You know this vendetta that you have against Veronica and her family is ridiculous, right?”
> 
> Cheryl scoffs.
> 
> “No, seriously, I mean it,” she spits out, hands pressed against the table. “What’s so bad about Veronica Lodge? Honestly. What has she ever done to hurt somebody?”
> 
> “You saying that just proves how much you don’t know about her,” Cheryl responds. “If I were you, I wouldn’t put too much trust into her before she breaks your heart, or runs off with all your secrets, for that matter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna wait a few days to post this but then my lovely beta Erin insisted, so here we are. I'm hoping to have this fic done by the time s3 premieres.

It’s Monday and Betty won’t stop looking at Jughead, despite the fact that he’s showed no interest in holding a conversation today. Five minutes in he finally sighs, gives in, and signs: _What?_

“Why don’t you wear a hearing aid?”

Jughead almost laughs; Betty gets the feeling that that wasn’t the best question to ask.

_You need money for that kind of stuff. Which, if you hadn’t noticed, isn’t exactly something people in this town can just throw around. Unless you’re a Blossom, or maybe Veronica._

Betty is about to say something else when Kevin sits down.

“Why are we talking about Veronica Lodge?” he asks, tone sour.

 _Forget it, not important_ , Jughead signs.

Once he’s not looking anymore, Betty leans over and quietly asks Kevin, “Why are you the only other person that he lets sit here?”

Kevin stalls a moment before answering: “‘Cause he understands how it feels to have someone close to you hurt you in a way that they can’t take back.”

Betty wants to ask what he means by that, but she decides to save it for another day, has an odd feeling that Veronica is involved somehow.

 

 

The Coopers are having Saturday brunch with the Blossoms and Betty wants to be literally anywhere else right now. She likes her aunt and uncle, sure, but if she has to listen to them talk about maple syrup for one more minute she might just lose it.

“We sent Jason off to boarding school for his senior year,” Penelope says boastfully. “It’ll give him better chances when it finally comes down to picking a college. I assume that the adjustment to a new school is going well, yes, Elizabeth?”

Betty sits up straighter in her seat, caught off guard and flustered.

“Oh, yeah- yes. I’ve been making friends with the neighbors and a few classmates, Archie Andrews and Veronica Lodge.”

Cheryl stifles a laugh and Clifford scoffs under his breath; Betty feels confused, then her blood begin to boil.

“A bunch of criminals, the Lodge’s,” he scoffs. “Best to stay away from them before they corrupt you, too.”

“That’s a little rude, don’t you think?” Betty snaps, tersely. “Seeing as you’re the only reason Mr. Lodge was ever arrested in the first place.”  

Nearly all of the Blossoms look at her strangely and Alice shushes Betty, a forced _be nice_ coming out of her mouth. Betty doesn’t speak up again for the rest of the meal, pushes her eggs around on her plate and avoids eye contact with everyone.

Later, once the parents have retreated to another room, Betty strikes up a quiet conversation with Cheryl.  “You know this vendetta that you have against Veronica and her family is ridiculous, right?”

Cheryl scoffs.

“No, seriously, I mean it,” she spits out, hands pressed against the table. “What’s so bad about Veronica Lodge? Honestly. What has she ever done to hurt somebody?”

“You saying that just proves how much you don’t know about her,” Cheryl responds. “If I were you, I wouldn’t put too much trust into her before she breaks your heart, or runs off with all your secrets, for that matter.”

It sounds like a load of garbage, but it also reminds Betty about what Kevin said at lunch the other day, about being hurt in a way that you can’t take back. She tells herself that it’s nothing, Veronica isn’t like that, she’s not the kind of person to be callous towards somebody else… right?

 

 

Archie is more than a little lost. Somehow despite only being here not even two months, Betty has somehow managed to get Jughead to open up to her and talk more than he has to anyone else in the last six months. He wonders if there’s something that he’s missing, something that he could have done to help Jughead a long time ago.

He sees Betty at Pop’s one day after school, walks over and interrupts her reading before he can stop himself.

“How have you done it? How did you get Jughead to open up and trust you so quickly?”

Betty shrugs, “I don’t know, maybe he just needed a friend.”

Archie slides into the booth across from her. “That’s just it, we’ve been friends for years- our whole lives, even- and now all because this one thing happened he’s just shut down on me. He doesn’t let anybody in, he doesn’t talk about it.”  

“Well did you ask him?”

“About what?”

“About why he never said anything.”

Archie feels his stomach twist into a knot; _shit_ , he hadn’t thought to ask Jughead why he never said anything prior to getting hurt.  

He shakes his head. “No, no I didn’t ask Jug about it.”

Betty gives him an almost pitiful look, and he leaves her alone after that, goes home having lost his appetite after that conversation.

He thought that he knew everything about Jughead, his likes, dislikes, nervous ticks. Now, after hearing that, Archie feels like he’s been living with a stranger these last six months. It's like he doesn’t even know Jughead at all. Or, maybe, maybe he’s not as good of a friend as he thought that he was.

  


Veronica has been dating Reggie for so long that sometimes it’s hard to remember a time when she wasn’t. It’s not that she’s unhappy with him or anything, but lately she’s just been feeling… different, feels like something is missing.

Sometimes she looks at Betty and gets this warm feeling in her chest that she can’t explain, a feeling that while not at all familiar, isn’t bad either. Then, every once and a while, Betty will catch her eye across the classroom and then wink at her which never fails to make her feel like her insides are having a circus parade. They’re good friends, alright? Veronica likes spending time with her there’s no shame in that… right?

Cheryl’s Halloween party is this weekend and the entire junior and senior classes are coming. Despite having already agreed to go, Veronica is feeling kind of iffy about it- attending a party that’s being hosted by your former friend now enemy doesn’t exactly sound enjoyable- sounds more like a recipe for disaster.

Betty tries talking her into it as they’re walking down the hallway with Archie, says that the two of them can get ready together.

“C’mon, V, it’ll be fun,” she insists, tugging on her arm. "All of your friends are gonna be there. Pleeeeease?" 

How could Veronica say no to a face like that?

“Alright, just for you Betty.” She says; her heart soars when Betty’s face splits into a wide grin.

Veronica gets the feeling that this party, for whatever reason, is one that she’s never going to forget.

 

 

Archie, Betty, and Veronica are all standing around and going over notes before class, getting some last-minute studying in before midterms start. Betty is about to say something when a commotion cuts her off from down the hall, causing all three of them to look up.

It’s Reggie, taunting and shoving at Jughead who’s just trying to get something out of his locker, not even acknowledging Reggie at all.

“C’mon, Jones,” he leers. “Didn’t that old man of yours ever teach you how to _fight back_?”

A few people laugh, a crowd is beginning to draw; Archie hands his books off to Betty before marching down the hall, already mad. Archie shoves him away from Jughead, getting right in Reggie’s face.

“Give me one good reason that I shouldn’t lay you out right now, I dare you.”

He practically laughs, “Relax, Andrews, I was just-.”

“Get the hell away from him, Reg, I mean it.”

Reggie takes another step back, holding his hands up.

“Suit yourself, Andrews. Don’t come crying to me when you get tired of one-sided conversations.”

Archie glares at him as he walks away; he turns back to Jughead, thinking that he might get a thank you or something. Instead, Jughead looks downright pissed, starts walking away from Archie as soon as he catches his eye.

Archie tries to follow him, makes the mistake of touching his shoulder, which only makes Jughead more upset; Jughead whirls around on Archie, practically seething at this point.

“Stop!” he yells; it’s the loudest sound that Archie’s heard him make in nearly six months. “I didn’t ask for your help. I don’t need you to fight my battles for me!”

“How the hell am I supposed to know that if you won’t talk to me! You won’t let me help.”

“Oh right, I’m sorry, because you were such _a big help_ when my dad did a number on the back of my head six months ago. Insisting that I move into your house, all the pitied looks from your dad, what more could I have asked for? You couldn’t be bothered play hero before all this shit happened and I certainly don’t need you to do it now so would you just _fuck off_?”

Archie just gapes at him, both stunned and heartbroken by everything he’s just said. Jughead walks off before he can try to say something else that might fix this and Archie lets him. He takes his books back from Betty and keeps going to class, wondering how the hell he’s ever going to fix this.   

 

 

After the fight in the hallway that morning, Betty decides to give Jughead some space, until lunch that is. She finds him in the music room of all places, sitting by himself at the piano plucking at the keys; Betty sits on the other end of the bench, trying not to make him uncomfortable.

He glances up at her, his face blank and emotionless.

“I didn’t know that you played.”

“I don’t,” he says. “Just- trying something new, I guess.”

Betty nods and starts playing “chopsticks” with the high-pitched keys on her end. She’s trying to remember one of the songs she learned when she was seven when Jughead speaks up again, catching her off guard.

“It’s not that I can’t hear at all or anything like that,” he says, solemnly. “It’s just that nothing sounds right. Like when you stick your head underwater and try to talk, most of it doesn’t make sense. The sound isn’t clear.”  

“That must be really frustrating,” she says, signing along.

Jughead nods despite having not looked up for more than a second.

“What you said about your dad earlier… is that true?”

Jughead nods again, _We got into a fight and he hit me over the back of the head with a beer bottle; twenty-eight stitches and one concussion later all I got was a new roommate and a pair of ears that don’t work._

“I’m so sorry, Jughead… you don’t deserve to be treated like that.”

Jughead scoffs, _Yeah, sure_.

Betty sighs, wishing that she could make him feel better. An idea comes to her head; before she can stop herself, she leans over to kiss him on the cheek. She gets less than an inch away from his face when Jughead recoils.

“What the hell are you doing?”

She sputters. “Wh- I was- sorry, I just-.”

“Just what? Thought you were getting a relationship out of this. Is that why you’ve been so hung up on me? You thought wrong, Betty, I’m not like that.”

“No, I didn’t- Jug.”

Betty sighs as he storms out of the room, pressing her elbows against the keys as she hides her face. She can’t remember the last time that she had a conversation fizzle out so spectacularly, except for maybe the first time she tried talking with Jughead.

“Everything okay in here?”

Betty looks over her shoulder to see Kevin poking his head into the room.

“Yeah, yeah, just- conversation didn’t go as planned. That’s all. What are you doing here?”

“Jughead never came to lunch, he likes to hide out here sometimes when he’s upset.”

“You heard about the fight?”

“The so-called ‘deaf kid’ getting into a fight with Reggie Mantle _and_ Riverdale’s resident golden boy Archie Andrews? Yeah. The whole school heard.”

Betty huffs, “Great, he’s gonna love that. Everyone talking about him behind his back while he doesn’t even know about it.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Kevin says, coming into the room. “He doesn’t care much about what people think of him anyway. Stuff like this usually blows over; Jughead will be fine.”

“It sounds like you’re speaking from experience,” she comments.

“Nothing gets past you, does it?”

“Not if I can help it… you mentioned once that you and Jughead understood what it meant to get hurt in a way that you can’t take back, what did you mean by that?”

“I’m not sure that’s a story that you actually wanna hear, it’s not exactly a fairytale. Besides, I wouldn’t wanna sway you in favor of my opinion.”

“Why, because I’m friends with Veronica?”

Kevin’s face falls, looks away from Betty.

“Look, whatever happened- whatever she did, I wanna know, I need to. I wanna know that I can trust her.”

Kevin sighs a little, pulls up a chair, saying, “Alright, but don’t say that I didn’t warn you…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone may or may not be getting kissed in the next chapter... just saying.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s fun to watch for the first little bit, it’s mostly just drunk teenagers walking into the coat closet then coming out a few minutes later with lipstick on their face, giggling like it’s all they know. Then, it just gets boring, and Veronica wishes she was somewhere else, wishes that she had opted for staying home and watching movies.
> 
> She’s so caught up in her own thoughts that she doesn’t even realize that she’s being volunteered for the next round in the game.
> 
> “Wait, what-.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit's about to get intense, my friends.

Jughead ignores Archie for two whole days and Archie is more than willing to let him. After their altercation in the hallway earlier that week, Archie had been at a loss as to what he could say to Jughead that would possibly make up for everything. He keeps replaying Jughead’s words over again in his head: _You couldn’t be bothered play hero before all this shit happened and I certainly don’t need you to do it now._

Archie walks into his room after school on Friday and Jughead is already there, looking at a website that helps you learn sign language. He taps Jughead on the shoulder, sitting across from him; they’re gonna talk about this whether he wants to or not.

Jughead looks less than amused, but Archie starts anyways.

“Why didn’t you tell me that your dad was hurting you?”

Jughead shrugs, “I don’t know. You were around long enough, I just figured you knew. Thought maybe you were too afraid to say something, that we’d get in trouble somehow.”

He hadn’t. Archie didn’t have even a clue that FP Jones had been abusing his son. Not until the day Archie called wondering why he was late for their plans only to have Jughead give a pained cry for help on the other end. Archie and Fred showed up at the trailer ten minutes later only to find Jughead bleeding on the kitchen floor, surrounded by broken glass and half conscious. It wasn’t until later, once Jughead had woken up that they’d all started to realize that his hearing had been affected- by that point, there was nothing they could do about it.

“Is that why you’ve been pushing me away? Cause you thought I knew?”

“Yeah,” he says. “I was mad. Nobody did anything before the bad thing happened so- I don’t know. I guess it just felt like you were doing all this to make up for the fact that no one did anything until after I got hurt. Like your way of apologizing was insisting that I move into your house or something.”

“We would have let you move in, regardless. You know that, right, Jug? If I’d known-”

“I know,” Jughead interrupts, his face apologetic. “I know you would have… I’m sorry for doubting you, and for pushing you away. That’s not fair.”

Archie just shrugs. “I’m sorry that your dad is a jackass.”

Jughead laughs, sharp and quick, doesn’t last more than a second; Archie can’t help but notice that he hasn’t heard Jughead do that in months, even well before the accident.

“Yeah, you got me there.” He goes to turn back to his computer, but Archie stops him.

“Would you teach me that?” he asks, gesturing towards the ASL still pulled up on the screen; Jughead makes a surprised face.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. You’re my best friend, Jug. I miss talking to you. If this is what works for you then I wanna know how to do it… I wanna be there for you in whatever way that I can.”

Jughead smiles widely, pulling his computer into his lap. “Alright then, let’s get started.”

 

 

 

Betty had agreed to come over to Veronica’s to get ready for Cheryl’s party. When she stepped out of the bathroom in a spaghetti strap, knee length, white dress with her hair falling over her shoulders for once, Veronica swears her heart grows two sizes. She’s never seen anything so beautiful.

Veronica stumbles over her words. “Um, wh- what- who are you supposed to be?”

Betty smooths her hands over her skirt. “Oh, I’m shrunken Karlie Kloss.”

Veronica laughs; beautiful and funny, it’s almost unfair.

“You look great, B.”

“Thanks. What are you going as?”

Veronica looks down at her long, black gown, squeezing the bright red lipstick still in her hand.

“Oh- uh, Reggie wanted to go as the husband and wife from the Addams family. It’s his favorite movie.”

“Nice, you really pull it off,” Betty says with a wink.

Veronica feels her palms begin to sweat. God, what the hell is wrong with her tonight?

The party is in full swing by the time they arrive. More than a third of them are drunk and everyone else is close to halfway there. The music is so loud that it makes her ears hurt. Veronica looks over at Betty just after they’ve stepped inside only to find a frown growing on her face.

“What’s the matter? Why the long face?”

Betty shakes her head, “You’re gonna think it’s stupid.”

“Betty, this is you that we’re talking about. I highly doubt that anything that comes out of that brilliant brain of yours would classify as stupid. Seriously, what is it?”

She bites her lip, not meeting Veronica’s eye.

“Halloween was Chic’s favorite holiday.”

Veronica feels something tug at her heartstrings; without thinking about it, she reaches over and grabs Betty’s hand.

“He was a bit older than me, but I can still remember when we were kids how excited he would get when Halloween was coming up. Chic used to _beg_ my mom to let him start decorating as soon as October hit, maybe even earlier if she’d let him… I didn’t think not having him here for a holiday would happen so soon.”

“Do you miss him?”

“Everyday. Sometimes I miss him so much that I can’t even stand it- most of the time I just keep wondering why he did it- I keep wishing that I could get some form of closure, anything to explain his reasoning, you know?”

“He didn’t leave a note?”

Betty shakes her head again, “Not a very detailed one, at least- just said that he was sorry. That was it… I was hoping that if I got dressed up and came to this party then I might feel closer with him, you know? But… I don’t know, so far it’s not working.”

“Is that why you wanted me to come so badly?”

Betty nods, looking at the ground.

“Hey,” Veronica says, squeezing her hand until Betty finally looks at her. “I know it may not feel like it right now, but this is gonna be a good night. One for the record books, I can feel it.”

Betty smiles a little, squeezing back. “Thanks, Veronica. I really appreciate it. Crap- I think I saw my sister over there, I should go check in with her for a minute. Is it okay if I-.”

“Yeah, of course. Go, I’ll find you later.”   

She gives Veronica’s hand one last squeeze before leaving, once again making Veronica feel like her heart is working in double time. No more does Betty walk away than does Veronica feel a pair of arms snake their way around her waist, pulling her back into a strong chest.

“Hey, beautiful,” a voice says.

Reggie. Of course.

She turns around, trying to put a smile on her face.

“Hey, nice suit.”

“Nice _dress_ ,” Reggie says, slurring a little. “I love the way this looks on you.”

_Oh, that’s new._

It’s not that she can’t say the L word, it just doesn’t feel right for some reason. She’s been trying for months to work up the courage, to find it in her somewhere to say, but no matter how much Veronica tries, she can’t seem to do it.

She doesn’t say anything else, mostly cause she feels like her tongue is caught somewhere in the back of her throat. Instead, she pulls away, holding him at arm’s length.

“I should find Betty. Be back in a bit.”

It’s not a total lie, she does find Betty for a second, then finds the drink table, helping herself to the first stiff drink that she can find, then maybe another.

It’s easier to relax after that; Veronica feels sated and heavy, but not in a bad way. At some point, the dining room turns into the dance floor. While herself and Reggie and dancing together, Veronica looks up and sees Archie and Val Brown in the corner, dancing closely together.

 _Finally_ , she thinks to herself.

Reggie’s voice comes from just behind her ear, almost startling her.

“You wanna get out of here?” He asks. “Go somewhere more private?”

She scrambles to think of something, like: _I promised Betty_ or _I didn’t bring anything_. Before she can think of a good answer, Betty comes over, a little tipsy.

“V!” She draws out. “Cheryl is starting a game of spin the bottle, you should join!”

Veronica shakes her head, “Betty, I-.”

“Please,” Betty begs, tugging on her arm. “It’ll be fun!”

Betty gives her something resembling puppy dog eyes, how could Veronica say no to a face like that?

She looks back at her boyfriend. “Would you-.”

“Go ahead,” Reggie says. “I’ll come find you later.”

Something about his tone, the ease at which he speaks, makes Veronica feel like something is off. She doesn’t have a chance to say anything before Betty is taking her by the arm, dragging her into the living room.

It’s fun to watch for the first little bit, it’s mostly just drunk teenagers walking into the coat closet then coming out a few minutes later with lipstick on their face, giggling like it’s all they know. Then, it just gets boring, and Veronica wishes she was somewhere else, wishes that she had opted for staying home and watching movies.

She’s so caught up in her own thoughts that she doesn’t even realize that she’s being volunteered for the next round in the game.

“Wait, what-.”

“That settles it,” Cheryl states. “Whoever is on the other end of the bottle goes in with Lodge next.”

“Cheryl, I’m not-.”

It didn’t matter. The bottle had already been spun, moving in near hypnotizing circles, rattling against the wooden table.

Veronica feels anxious as the bottle begins to slow down; is it too late to back out somehow? What the hell is Reggie gonna think when he hears about this? After what feels like an eternity, the bottle comes to a stop, finally landing on… herself?

She breathes a sigh of relief, “I can’t go in alone, so I guess I’m not going. Someone else can-.”

“Not so fast, Miss Transylvania,” Cheryl cuts in. “The bottle isn’t just pointing at you.”

Her glare cuts to somewhere above Veronica’s head, almost smirking.

Veronica feels her throat close up as she looks over her shoulder; Betty had gotten up from the couch and moved to stand behind her at some point. The same Betty who makes her head spin in the most unexplainable way- how did she not realize that Betty wasn’t sitting next to her anymore? Maybe if she doesn’t say anything then-

“I’m in if you are,” Betty chimes in, the joy practically spilling out of her mouth.

Veronica gapes at her, suddenly at a loss for words. The next thing she knows, the closet door is shutting behind her, the only light coming from a dying light bulb above them.

Veronica turns to face Betty, her palms sweating once again.

“Why did you wanna come in here with me?” she asks.

Betty stills, “Honestly? I wanted to see Cheryl squirm. Her cousin and her ex-best friend? That’s gotta be a laugh.”

“Oh, okay.”

“We don’t have to do anything if you don’t-.”

“No, no, that’s not it,” Veronica says, almost too quickly. “I just- wanted to ask, that’s all.”

Feeling awkward, Veronica changes the subject. “You and Jughead seem to be getting closer.”

“Oh, yeah, we are.”

Her flat tone is the most un-Betty like thing that she’s seen to date. It makes her nerves stand on end.

“Everything okay, B?”

Betty’s mouth twists into something sour, something resembling regret or discomfort.

“I might have tried to kiss him the other day.”

Veronica tries, and fails, to keep the shock out of her voice, “What? Why?”

“I don’t know- because he was upset, I thought it would help. I was wrong… obviously.”

“You were trying to help, there’s no shame in that.”

Betty hums, crosses her arms, and the small space goes quiet.

The seconds tick by into minutes as Veronica tries to think of something to say, but she can’t- nothing helpful anyways. All she can think about is how beautiful Betty looks tonight, how she wants to be around her, hold her _all the time._

Shit, maybe this is why her palms always seem to sweat around her. Maybe her fondness for Betty is more than just platonic, more than just a couple of best friends. Is it possible that she’s been going about this all wrong? Is this the unexplainable feeling that Veronica has been having ever since Betty showed up in town?

Well, there is _one_ way to find out.

“Betty,” Veronica whispers; it comes out so soft that for a moment she’s worried that Betty hadn’t heard her.

Betty meets her eye, arms dropping to her sides.

“What?”

Veronica’s mouth drops open, desperately trying to think of something to say- her heart feels as though it could beat itself out of her chest.

Betty breathes out a laugh, “What? What is it?”

She takes a step forward, crowding into Betty’s space. Veronica cranes her neck upward, stretches her legs just enough to be able to press her lips against Betty’s.

The kiss doesn’t last more than two- maybe three seconds at most- but it’s everything that Veronica wanted. It’s warm and soft and sweet, makes all the noise in her head stop just long enough for her to enjoy it.

Veronica takes a step back, and Betty is looking right at her, eyes full of surprise.

“Why did you do that?”

Veronica shrugs, says, “I wanted to.”

Before either one of them can say anything else, the timer goes off on Betty’s phone- Veronica hadn’t even seen her set it. She turns it off then throws the door open in two seconds flat, then grabs Veronica by the hand, pulling her out of the closet and away from the crowd of drunk teenagers that are all looking for a show.

Veronica can only imagine what Cheryl’s face must look like right now.

Veronica stumbles a little as Betty tugging her along, the drinks from earlier still coursing through her bloodstream.

“Betty, where are we-.”

She stops suddenly, turning around, causing Veronica to collide into her. Betty hasn’t let go of her hand even once.

“Find your coat,” She says, voice firm. “We’re going home.”

Veronica feels as though she could melt right then and there. She feels herself nod, listens to Betty say something about finding Polly before leaving her alone.

She does as she’s told, finds her coat, and another vodka soda for good measure, then does a quick sweep of the ground floor, looking for Reggie. When she doesn’t see him, Veronica thinks it’s odd, but doesn’t do anything about it. She can apologize for ditching him tomorrow, besides, there’s a pretty girl waiting for her.

The trip back to The Pembrooke both feels like it’s taking forever and like it happened it no time at all. Veronica drops her keys twice before she can even manage to get them in the door, and Betty has to shush her when she starts to giggle.

“Quiet, V, you might wake your parents.”

Whether it’s because it came from Betty, or because her head is too fuzzy for her to put up a real fight, Veronica does as she’s told; goes compliant in a way that she never has before.

They go into Veronica’s room, then Betty goes into the adjacent bathroom and Veronica settles herself on the bed, limbs too gangly and tired to navigate her way out of this dress. She looks up a few minutes later and what she sees nearly takes her breath away.

Betty is standing in the doorway to the bathroom, wearing a grey tank top and black shorts, hair pulled back into a half bun. She’s taken off her makeup at some point, a small glow to her skin.

How is it possible for someone to look so effortlessly gorgeous all the time?

Betty walks forward, eyes locked on Veronica; she doesn’t stop until their knees are knocking together. Betty reaches out, tucking a stray strand of hair behind Veronica’s ear.

“Can I kiss you?”

Veronica nods, head feeling heavier than she remembered it being before.

This kiss is far different from the first one, but just as good. Betty moves her hand to Veronica’s jaw, tilting her head upward, adding more pressure to the kiss. Betty gets closer, moving until her legs are bracketing Veronica’s thighs.

Veronica sighs a little from beneath her, wishing that she could make herself do more than just sit there and kiss back. She moves her hands to Betty’s waist at some point, holding onto her hips, rubbing her thumb over the small strip of skin that had begun to poke out from where Betty’s shirt was riding up.

This goes on for only God knows how long, the two of them kissing there in Veronica’s bedroom, only focused on each other. Eventually- too soon for Veronica’s liking, admittedly- Betty pulls away, her hand still firm on Veronica’s jaw.

“We should go to bed,” she says, tugging lightly on Veronica’s hair.

Veronica whines, feels it in the back of her throat.

“Relax,” Betty says, voice soft. “It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

Well, she can’t exactly argue with that.

Veronica complies once again, lets Betty help into her favorite navy blue, satin pajamas, then crawls into bed, with Betty pressed up right against her back. It’s easy to relax in bed when she’s already so sated from the alcohol she consumed earlier. She’s nearly asleep when she feels Betty’s arm tighten around her waist, breath ghosting over her shoulder, saying:

“I’m really glad that I met you, V.”

All she can think is, _Me too, Betty. Me too._

 

 

Veronica wakes up at eight in the morning with a headache and a sense of guilt that she’s never felt before.

She kissed Betty. She kissed Betty and then Betty _kissed her back_ ; it’s exactly what she wanted to happen, so why does she feel so guilty?

Her phone buzzes on the bedside table, alerting a missed text- it’s from Reggie. Veronica feels her heart pang inside of her chest. Right, _that’s_ what she’s feeling guilty about. She kissed Betty and her boyfriend doesn’t even know about it.

Veronica sits up, holding her breath as she unlocks her phone.

 **_Reggie_ ** _12:54 am: Hey im headin out you still here?_

_8:03 am: Where did you go last night I couldn’t find you anywhere_

Veronica sighs loudly, rubbing a hand over her face and wondering how the hell she’s going to explain this to him- if at all.

“Everything okay?”

She startles a little, looking over at Betty who is still next to her in bed, smiling lightly at her; Veronica hadn’t even heard her wake up.

_Even first thing in the morning she’s just as beautiful as ever._

“Oh, uh,” She fumbles. “Just Reggie- I left without telling him last night, he was wondering where I went. You know, protective boyfriend type and all that.

Veronica tries to play it off with a laugh, but she can practically feel Betty putting her guard up at the word _boyfriend_.

“Oh, right,” she says, her tone defensive.

For both of their sakes, Veronica acts like she hadn’t noticed.

They eat breakfast in near silence, barely even looking up at each other. Betty has only halfway finished her pancakes when she says that she needs to get home, says something about having promised her Mom that she would help out around the house today.

Again, Veronica just goes with it, not feeling brave enough to accuse her of lying.

She walks Betty to the door, then grabs her wrist before she can leave. When Betty turns to face her, Veronica kisses her again, short and barely there- nothing at all like last night.

“Thank you,” she says, quietly, “…for this.”

Betty’s face doesn’t change in the slightest, just nods then takes her hand away, leaving Veronica all alone.

She’s too wired to go back to sleep, so Veronica sticks to flopping down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. As hard as she tries, she can’t seem to get this thought out of her head- the one that’s been screaming at her since she woke up this morning, the one that feeling that has been rattling around ever since that first day of school. This is the great, grand, panic-inducing thing that she didn’t have a name for until now.

_Shit. I’m gay._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoomp there it is. 
> 
> How do you think this is gonna go? Let me know in the comments! Have a great day!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Kevin, please.”
> 
> “Why don’t you go tell your boyfriend if it’s so important-.”
> 
> “I’m gay!” she blurts out; it’s followed by a gasp and Veronica immediately throws her hand over her mouth. She hadn’t said that out loud before until now, it brings tears to her eyes almost instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this universe, Kevin calls Veronica "Ronnie" because I make the rules and that needs to happen.

Sunday afternoon, Veronica finds herself at Pop’s with Archie doing homework, unable to focus for the life of her. She’s been staring at her notes for her Chem test for over an hour and still couldn’t explain it to a class if she tried.

She keeps thinking about Betty. Veronica has been ignoring her all weekend, hasn’t answered a single one of her texts. She’d tell Betty the truth, tell her how she feels, that the kiss wasn’t for nothing or just some one-time thing- but Veronica can’t, not yet, she’s too mortified by all of it.

This is the biggest revelation of her entire life and she can’t even bring herself to tell anyone. Not even Archie, one of her best and longest running friends- who keeps looking at her with a concerned face.

“Ronnie, you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah.” She says in a rush. “Just- got a lot on my mind, that’s all.”

“Plotting your revenge on Reggie?”

Veronica stills, drops her pen; she’s been ignoring Reggie this whole weekend as well, so she can’t think of any reason to cast her wrath on him. Does Archie know something that she doesn’t? “Why would I be getting revenge on my boyfriend?”

Archie’s eyes go wide. “Crap, I thought you knew.”

Veronica clenches her fists, voice just as tense. “Thought I knew _what, Archie?_ ”

“Reggie, he- he made out with some sophomore at Cheryl’s party.”

Her mind goes blank for a full two seconds before realizing that she’s not nearly as upset as she thought she’d be to hear news like that. After all, it’s not like he’s the only one who kissed someone else that night.

“Really, Veronica, I thought you knew,” Archie continues. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay… I’m glad you told me.”

As much as she may want to, Veronica doesn’t say anything else about the Reggie situation, or tell Archie about what happened with Betty. She considers it a miracle that half the school doesn’t know already, that one of Cheryl’s minions hasn’t already tried blackmailing her into spilling all the details into their seven minutes in heaven escapades.

Besides, what’s the point in hyping up something that no one even knows about.

 

 

 

Veronica is a ball of nerves by the time Monday morning has arrived. She finally texted Betty late the night before, asking if they could meet up and talk in the Blue & Gold’s office before

school. There hadn’t been a response, but she’s still holding out hope. Even if Veronica can’t tell her about her feelings just yet, the least she could do is apologize for ignoring her… right?

Betty is already there when she arrives, ponytail and all. She doesn’t look up when Veronica comes in.

“Hey, B,” she says carefully. “Can we talk for a minute?”

“Sure.”

Her clipped tone, while very un-Betty like, makes sense. Veronica wouldn’t be too gung-ho about talking to someone who had kissed her then ignored her all weekend either.

“I wanted to apologize for going AWOL this weekend, that wasn’t cool of me, and I’m really sorry. Some… stuff came up and I needed time to process all of it.”

“Stuff?”

“Yeah… Reggie, he cheated on me.” It’s an easy out and she knows it; Veronica hates herself for it immediately.  

“That sucks.”

Veronica was expecting a bit more of a reaction than that, honestly. A little bit of sympathy, at least.

“Betty, I get that you’re mad-.”

“Mad?” Betty interrupts, standing finally. “You think I’m mad just because you didn’t answer a couple of texts?”

“W- well, yeah.”

“I’m not mad, Veronica… I’m heartbroken.”

Veronica feels her breath catch in her throat, this is exactly what she had feared would happen.

“You kissed me. Made it seem like you really liked me then ignored me for two days. How the hell am I supposed to respond to that?”

“Upset, yes, but-.”

“And here I was thinking that Kev was wrong, that you couldn’t possibly be like that. I told myself: no way, Veronica wouldn’t just ditch somebody, that’s not who she is. And then you went and did this.”

“What the hell does Kevin have to do with this?”

“He told me. About what you and Reggie did last year, how you found out that he’s gay and then you pushed him aside, made him a social outcast.”

Veronica feels herself retreating, this is escalating in a way that she hadn’t expected.

“That’s not- what happened with Kevin, its- look can we just-”

“Just what? Forget that this whole thing ever happened? Sure. Why not? It’s not like any of it meant anything, right?”

“Hold on-.”

“I mean c’mon,” Betty leers. “Who are we kidding, V? This can’t work. We’re not made for each other or anything. God, I never should have gotten into this with you.”

“Then why did you?” Veronica bites out, finally getting a full sentence in.

Betty gapes for a moment, then shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess I just needed something different. Something… real, for once.”

As if on cue, the bell rings above them both, startling Veronica. Betty picks up her books, makes a move for the door.

“Betty, I-.”

“I trusted you, Veronica,” she says, voice unwavering. “And you went and pulled the same shit that everyone else did, just like all those girls at my old school… I don’t want to be around you right now.”

Betty walks off without another word, leaving Veronica all alone, willing herself not to shatter into a million pieces.

Despite wanting to, Veronica does not cry. After what she did, the way that she hurt Betty- crying feels wrong in this situation, feels like something that she’s not entitled to. She goes through the rest of the day in a fog, trying to ignore the splitting ache in her chest. She keeps replaying what Betty said over and over again in her head.

_I’m heartbroken. We’re not made for each other. I never should have gotten into this with you._

By the end of the day, Veronica wants nothing more than to crawl into bed and forget that the conversation- that the whole weekend- ever happened. She has half a mind to cancel on her homework plans with Archie; for the first time in maybe forever, being social is not on her agenda.

She’s pacing the hallway waiting for Archie to finish some makeup test when she nearly bumps into Kevin; that’s what she gets for not looking up in the last five minutes, it would seem.

“Sorry- oh, hey.”   

“Hi,” Kevin says, taking a step back. The two of them haven’t been alone in same space in months- it’s exactly as awkward as one would imagine- the tension is so thick that you could choke on it.

 _I have to tell him,_ she thinks to herself. _I need to tell him I’m gay. I need to know how the hell I’m supposed to deal with this… but where do I even start?_

“I, uh, I didn’t see you at Cheryl’s party the other night.”

“Yeah, I didn’t feel like giving Reggie an excuse to ask me why I’m not wearing my fairy wings.”

Veronica feels her stomach sink. “Right, right… Listen, um, there’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“I’m not in the mood for gossip talk,” Kevin says, walking further down the hallway.

“Kevin, please.”

“Why don’t you go tell your boyfriend if it’s so important-.”

“I’m gay!” she blurts out; it’s followed by a gasp and Veronica immediately throws her hand over her mouth. She hadn’t said that out loud before until now, it brings tears to her eyes almost instantly.

Kevin comes to a standstill, body going rigid. He doesn’t even turn around to face her. The tension around them has turned to panic in a matter of seconds.

“I’m gay, Kev,” she croaks.

Kevin turns on his heel to face her, pissed as all hell and tears brimming in his eyes as he marches forward.

“Ronnie, if this is some sort of a sick joke I swear to God-.”

“It’s not- it’s not!” Veronica says in a rush. “It’s Betty. Of all the girls that had to move to our school, it had to be her, she had to be the one that I fell for. The one girl I can’t have because she won’t even talk to me because of what I did. Me and my shit luck, right? …Kevin, please, I don’t know what to do with this.”

“So what, you think this fixes things?” he spits out. “You think this makes us friends again just because we play for the same team?”

“No, I just-.”

“You _left me_. Pushed me aside like I was nothing all because your stupid boyfriend thinks that there’s something wrong with me. And I’m just supposed to forgive you for that? I can’t. _I won’t_.”

Kevin leaves before she can get another word in, and Veronica doesn’t know what to do with herself, so she just stands there, all of the bad emotions from the day finally consuming her. She’s still there, all but choking on her own breath when Archie finally comes out of the classroom.

“Alright, I’m done lets- hey, hey what’s wrong?” He asks, noticing her state of disarray.

Not knowing what else to do, Veronica falls into his chest, wrapping her arms around him. She cries loudly into his chest, unable to stop herself. It takes him a second to react, but eventually her hugs her back, one of his hands cradling the back of her head, the other rubbing down her back.

“You’re okay,” he tries. “It’s gonna be okay, Ronnie.”

She wants to believe him, _God_ does she want to, but she can’t. Not right now, not when it feels like she just lost everything that she’s ever truly cared about.

It takes her a few minutes, but she finally tells Archie about all of it. About Cheryl’s party, the kiss with Betty, the fight with her and Kevin, the whole nine yards. It’s hard and messy, but she has to tell someone, someone who will listen and not judge her for it.

After she’s finished, they sit there in the hallway in complete silence, both of them still processing all of it.

“How long have you known, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Since the start of school, I guess,” Veronica mutters. “I knew I was feeling different I just- didn’t totally figure it out until this weekend.”

“That makes sense… have you told Reggie yet?”

Veronica groans; of course _her boyfriend_ of all people would be the last one to know that she’s gay. She covers her face with her hands.

“I don’t even know what I would tell him. God, he’s never gonna forgive me for this.”

“Maybe,” Archie interjects. “But you won’t know unless you try, right?”

Veronica looks over at him, smirks a little; it just might be the most Archie-esc thing that he’s ever said, but she loves it. On some level, it’s exactly what she needs to hear.

“You, Archie Andrews, are much smarter than people give you credit for.”

“Thanks… I think.”

Both of them laugh, and Veronica leans her head against his shoulder. She’s far from feeling okay about the whole thing, but she’s getting there- or she’s going to, at least.

 

 

 

Veronica is in the student lounge during her free period. She’s in the midst of an English paper when Kevin walks in, then stops two feet short of the couch she’s sitting on. Veronica looks up at him, an anxious pit forming in her stomach.

“I owe you an apology, for yesterday,” he says, quietly, “But you owe me a bigger one. Far more important.”

Veronica nods. “I know that I can’t take it back, but I really am sorry, Kevin, I swear. I never should have… well, you know.”

“It’s okay- I mean, it’s not, not in the slightest but- I’m not exactly at the forgiving stage just yet.”

“That’s understandable, honestly, if I were you I would forgive me, either.”

“Regardless, I’m sorry I didn’t hear you out yesterday. You asked for my help and I rejected you, that wasn’t cool of me.”

“It’s okay… do you wanna sit for a bit?” Veronica asks, gesturing to the open space next to her. “Maybe talk a little gossip?”

Kevin’s mouth turns into a flat line.

“Not… yet.”

Veronica nods again, watching his feet as he walks away from her. It is, in all honesty, the best way that _that_ conversation could have gone. She takes a second to close her eyes, breathing deeply; _things are going to be fine_ she tells herself, _I’ll figure this out somehow._

 

 

 

Once again, by the end of the day, Veronica is more than ready to just go home and sleep. She’s in the hallway, packing up the last of her things when Reggie walks by, and it dawns on her that they need to have a talk. Especially since she’s still been dodging his texts up to this point- she really needs to stop doing that.

“Hey, Reggie, can we talk for a minute?”

He scoffs, “Now you wanna talk?”

_“Reg.”_

He turns around, but doesn’t look her in the eye, just scuffs his shoes against the linoleum.

Veronica swallows heavily before she starts, willing herself not to choke or back out at the last second.

“We need to break up.”

“Why?” Reggie mutters. “Because you’re not in love with me?”

The question catches her off guard, but Veronica keeps going; if she stops now she may never find the courage to do this again.

“Because I know for a fact that both of us kissed someone else at Cheryl’s party… and no, I’m not in love with you.”

“Who told you?”

Veronica huffs, “Does it matter? You still did it, we both did, there’s no changing that now.”

Huh. A whole weekend of wishing that she could take it back and now she finally comes to terms with it; the universe is either very funny or just has impeccable timing, maybe both.

The conversation lulls, and Reggie looks up at her finally. “If you didn’t love me then why didn’t you just say something? Why drag it out this long?”

She shrugs, then stalls. Veronica has an answer, yes, but she’s not sure that she wants to be _that_ honest. At this point, though, it doesn’t feel like she has much of a choice.

“I don’t know. I guess I thought if I ignored it long enough it would go away.”

“Right… So, who was it, huh?” Reggie asks. “Andrews? Some other douchebag on the football team?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The guy you kissed, at the party. Who was it?”

Veronica gapes at him, begins wringing her hands together. She hadn’t been expecting that part of the situation to come up.

“It wasn’t- uh…” She sighs. “It was Betty.”

Reggie’s eyebrows practically reach his hairline.

“Wow… wow, that’s uh…” He trails off, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth. Instead of saying something else, getting the last word in like he usually would, Reggie just turns around and walks away, leaving Veronica alone in the hallway.

It’s the easiest break up in the history of the world and somehow it still hurts.

She barely makes it five seconds out the back door before the tears start streaming down her face. Veronica can only think of one place worth going, even if she’s not sure that she’s going to be welcome. She starts walking to Kevin’s place on foot, not caring when the clouds go grey and it begins to drizzle on her.

Veronica is both cold and wet all over by the time that she arrives and hasn’t been able to stop crying for even a minute. The door swings open and Kevin is there, looking both concerned and off-put by the sight of her on his front porch.

“I-I know that you still need time,” she says, voice catching in her throat. “But I could really use my best f-friend right now.”

Kevin contemplates it for a moment, just giving her a sad face. Then, he steps forward, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and holding her close to his chest.

Veronica wraps her arms around his waist, her grip impossibly tight- she’s so, so grateful that he’s letting her have this, giving her a moment to let out all of her feelings.

Twenty minutes later both of them are sitting on the couch, a blanket draped over their laps, sharing two pints of ice cream and pretzels while Veronica tells Kevin all the messy details from the party and her break up with Reggie.

“It was horrible. You should have seen her face, Kev. I may as well have spit on her while I was at it. Betty was so upset. To make matters worse, Reggie didn’t even have anything to say about it, not that I blame him.”

“Do you think he was mad, since it was Betty?”

“Surprised, yes. Mad? …I don’t know. He walked away before I could make heads or tails of it. Teenaged boys are impossible to understand- no offense, or anything.”

“None taken. Besides, I know what you mean.”

Veronica stops digging inside of her cold brew ice cream to raise an eyebrow at him.

“Oh?” she says, tone raised with curiosity. “Are you talking about someone in particular?”

Kevin stalls, lets a whistling breath out of his mouth. He mutters, “I may be sort of seeing Moose Mason,”

Her jaw practically hits the floor. “What? Since when?”

“Since the summer, right after last school year ended.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“’Cause we weren’t talking then,” Kevin says, gesturing with his hands. “Besides, Moose’s parents would cut him off if they ever found out, and Archie only knows because he caught us kissing, so you’d better swear not to say anything.”  

Veronica places a hand over her chest, the other suspended in midair.

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” she says, a small laugh coming out at the end. “…I really missed you, Kev.”

He nods, looking down into his ice cream. “I know, I missed you, too: have you told your parents yet? About any of it?”

Veronica shakes her head; she’s a little nervous about telling her parents, honestly. They’ve always been kind of old-fashioned in their beliefs, she worries now that they might look at her differently once they learn that she’s gay. More than anything, she just hopes they still love her, even if only a little.

“Not yet, I don’t know if I’m ready for that right now.”

“A little advice: the sooner the better. I know it sounds dumb, but the longer you hold it in the more it’s going to hurt.”  

Veronica nods, feeling sad all of the sudden. She thinks about everything that Kevin’s had to deal this year, how he didn’t have anyone to talk to through all of that. _God,_ she thinks to herself _, that must have been so lonely._ She begins to hate herself all over again for deserting him when he needed her most.

“I know I already said this,” she starts. “And I’ll never stop apologizing for it, but I really am sorry, Kevin. About everything. And I know you’re not ready to forgive me yet, I understand that I just- I needed you to hear it.”

“I know,” Kevin says, nodding. “I know you are- and, if we’re being honest, I think that there’s one more person that you need to ask forgiveness of.”

He gives Veronica a knowing look, and her stomach clenches, knowing immediately who he’s talking about. As much as she hates to admit it, he’s absolutely right, there’s someone else that she needs to apologize to.

Cheryl Blossom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is the last one! See you next week!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty’s face doesn’t change. “I heard.”
> 
> Okay, time for plan B, it would seem.
> 
> “I also apologized to Kevin and Cheryl.”
> 
> Betty’s shoulders lose a hint of their stiffness, she drops her arms from her chest. “Really?”
> 
> Veronica nods, her hope growing by the second.
> 
> “Can we talk? Please?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna wait and post this tomorrow but I got excited so here it is!

Every time that Veronica tries to talk to her, Betty just walks away. It’s frustrating but she understands it; Veronica wouldn’t want to talk or be around herself either if she were Betty, not after everything that went down between them.

That Friday, by some shred of luck, Veronica and Cheryl are some of the last ones in the hallways after the final bell rang. She stands behind Cheryl, timid, getting an eye roll from her when Cheryl looks over her shoulder.

“If you’re here to grovel don’t bother,” she says, tone flat. “Even you couldn’t match my price.”

Veronica stretches her fingers, swallows once before she asks: “Did you know ahead of time that your father was going to try and get mine arrested?”

Cheryl whirls around to face her, stunned.

“What? You can’t be serious right now.”

Veronica shrugs, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Veronica, how long have we been friends?”

“…Ten years.”

“Exactly. _Years_. You really think that I wouldn’t tell you if I knew something like this?”

“I don’t know, I just-. Everything around me was falling apart, you know? At the time it didn’t seem so ridiculous, but now… I guess I’m not so sure.”

Cheryl sighs, “Does your meaningless chatter have a point or?”

“I did- I do, I mean,” Veronica stammers. “I wanted to apologize for ghosting you last year after everything went down between our dads. You’re right, I know you better than that, and I should have come talked to you opposed to just assuming that you were in the wrong. I’m really sorry, Cheryl. I should have trusted you.”

Cheryl copies her stance, crossing her arms.

“You’re right, you should have trusted me. And, since we’re being honest, I swear that I didn’t know, Veronica. If I had I would’ve have given you a heads up, a phone call at the least.”

Veronica nods, “Thank you, Cheryl. I appreciate that.”

“For the record, this doesn’t make us instant friends again… but I’m willing to make amends if you are. Got it?”

“Sure thing,” Veronica says with a smile, a plan already brewing in her head as to how she can win her over.

  


 

By Saturday afternoon, Veronica hasn’t gotten so much as a peep out of Betty. Every time that they passed each other in the hallway or lock eyes in class during the week, Betty would do anything to act as though it hadn’t happened, like Veronica isn’t actually there.

It makes Veronica’s heartbreak all over again every time.

She’s in her dining room, having just made herself a bowl of pasta when her phone buzzes; it’s a text from Archie.

**_Archie:_ ** _4:43 pm: Betty and I are doing homework. She’ll be leaving in about ten minutes if you wanna come over or something_

Veronica is out the door in ten seconds flat, noodles be damned.

It’s a ten-minute walk from The Pembrooke to Archie’s house and she makes it seven minutes flat. Her black flats scuff against the sidewalk as she stops short of the Andrews house. Veronica is still mostly out of breath when Betty walks out the front door; she’s standing on the sidewalk between their houses, there’s no way that Betty can ignore her now.

Betty looks up from ten feet away, a frown immediately coming to her face.

“Hi.”

“Hey,” Betty responds flatly, crossing her arms.

Before she can take a second to think about what she wants to say, Veronica lets the first thing she can think of fall out of her mouth.

“I broke up with Reggie.”

Betty’s face doesn’t change. “I heard.”

Okay, time for plan B, it would seem.

“I also apologized to Kevin and Cheryl.”

Betty’s shoulders lose a hint of their stiffness, she drops her arms from her chest. “Really?”

Veronica nods, her hope growing by the second.

“Can we talk? Please?”

Two minutes later, the both of them are sitting on Betty’s front porch swing, caught up in absolute silence.

“Did you have something to say or-.”

“I did- I do, I do I swear-.” Veronica starts. “I know that what I did was horrible, okay? I really do. I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to forgive myself for hurting you like that, B. And that doesn’t make up for what I did, I know that, but- I can’t have you hating me like this. It’s crushing to see that you’re still so upset.”

“If you liked me so much then why didn’t you just say something? Why hide it for this long?”

Veronica shrugs, “I don’t know. I guess I wasn’t sure if it was real.”

“And now?” Betty asks, dropping her voice. “Now how do you feel?”

Veronica trips over her words, caught off guard by Betty, by everything that she is. Veronica leans in pressing her lips against Betty’s, sighing as she does so. It reminds her of their first kiss, the one that she can still picture clear as day when she closes her eyes and tries to fall asleep at night.

When Veronica pulls away, Betty still has her eyes closed- she doesn’t open them until her head is facing the ground.

 “Why did you do that?”

Placing her hand on the side on Betty’s face, Veronica rubs her thumb over her cheek until Betty finally looks at her.

“I don’t want anybody else, Betty. Just you. don’t you get that?”

It’s Betty’s turn to gape, looking at Veronica like she isn’t sure what to say.

“I can’t just jump into this, Veronica, I- I need time. To think about things.”

Veronica nods, understanding, “Okay… whatever you need.”

Veronica watches as Betty bites her lip, then gets up and goes inside. As she walks back over to Archie’s, she can’t help but notice that she feels different than she thought she would.

Archie greets Veronica at the door, “Well? How’d it go? Did it work, did you guys talk?”

She nods, “Yeah, yeah, I think things are going to be fine.”

Veronica goes home later feeling something that she hasn’t felt in months: at peace.

  
  


By the time that Tuesday comes around, Betty still hasn’t made up her mind about the Veronica situation. On one hand, she really likes Veronica- but she can’t get her heart broken. Not again, not after everything that she’s already lost this year.  

She sits down at Jughead’s table at lunch, surprised when she sees him signing to someone behind her.

Betty catches his attention, “Who are you talking to?”

He nods over her shoulder, “Archie.”

She’s caught off guard, to say the least. Betty wasn’t aware that Archie knew sign language, thought that he didn’t as far as she knew. She says as much to Jughead.

“He doesn’t, really- but I’ve been teaching him some stuff the last couple of weeks,” he says, a grin growing on his face. “His signing is kind of sloppy, but he’s trying, I’ll give him that much.”

“What changed? Why the sudden interest in sign language all of the sudden?”

Jughead shrugs, “Archie did. He wanted to learn, trying to be a good friend- I wasn’t about to stop him.”

“But-,” Betty sighs, conflicted. “Don’t you think that some people just can’t change? Like it’s just in their blood to make choices that will hurt other people.”

“Maybe. But maybe some people just wanna be better. Most aren’t even willing to try.”

“Okay, but why-.”

“The ‘why’ doesn’t always have a good answer,” Jughead interrupts. “It’s not our job to understand the choices other people make, Betty… that’s not going to help us feel better in the long run.”  

She sighs anxiously, the flashing image of her brother’s face coming to her mind. All that she’s wanted these last few months is to just understand, to make peace with what he did, the choice that he made.

She’s wondering, now, if this peace that she’s been dreaming about for months is as grief relieving as she’d hyped it up to be. Betty thinks that it’s time she set her sights on letting go of things that don’t make her feel good, on forgiving people even when it’s hard.

She looks up, catching Veronica’s eye as she ducks out into the hallway. Then, Jughead says something like straight out of a movie, as if knowing.

“Not to be too presumptuous, but I think this is the part where you get up and follow her.”

Betty looks back at him, eyes wide.

“C’mon,” he says, smug as ever. “Go get your girl.”

Betty considers her decision for a full five seconds before getting up from her seat, all but marching out to the hallway. It’s about damn time that something good finally happened, she thinks to herself.

She spots Veronica at the end of the hallway, it’s like she’d been expecting Betty to come. Betty feels her heart begin to race inside of her chest.

_I’ve been waiting my whole life to have a moment that feels as good as this._

“Veronica,” she calls, it echoes in the empty hallway.

Veronica turns to face her, wringing her hands together.

Betty takes a step forward, then another, then one more. Each step is quicker than the last. She keeps moving until she’s close enough to touch Veronica; Betty throws her arms around Veronica’s shoulders, pressing their mouths together. It’s warm and soft and sweet and everything that she’s been thinking about since their first kiss on Halloween. Betty almost wishes that she’d sooner found an excuse to be able to do this again.

She feels Veronica’s hands at the small of her back and sighs, pulling away. Betty nestles her hand in the back of Veronica’s hair, looking her right in the eye.

“If you’re still interested,” Betty says softly, “I’d really like to give this a try.”

Veronica nods, a wide smile splitting across her face. She rests her head against Betty’s before kissing her again, giggling afterward; it’s the perfect end to an otherwise shitty story.

 

 

 

_December 21 st_

It’s warm and bright inside the Andrews house. Archie has invited everyone over to hang out before the new year starts- it’s mostly just an excuse to see all of his friends while they actually have time off from school.   

They’re all sitting around the living room, waiting for the last of the guests to arrive; Veronica approaches Archie at the snack and drink table, talking quietly.

“Arch, where’s Reggie? I thought you invited him.”

“I did, but he declined,” he says.

She almost scoffs, “Why? Because he still can’t stand to be around me?”

Archie shakes his head, “No, that’s not it. He said that he didn’t wanna make you and Betty uncomfortable. And Kevin, too.”

“Oh,” she says, surprised. That’s not what she had been expecting Archie to say. Maybe Reggie has finally started to come around and see things with a different light.

Archie pats her arm as he walks away; Veronica looks over, spotting Betty’s who’s sitting on the arm of a chair, wearing a red sweater and dark jeans, smiling at Veronica. She makes her way across the room, all but pulling Betty into her lap after she’s seated in the chair.

Betty giggles, snaking her arms around Veronica’s neck.

“I wish I didn’t have to leave for New York tomorrow,” she says.

“You’re only going to be gone for a week, B. It’s not like you’re shipping out to sea or anything.”

“I know. I was just really hoping to spend the holidays in Riverdale… I wanted to be there to kiss you at midnight on New Year's Eve.”

“Well, you could always make up for it… like, by kissing me right now.”    

The last part comes out as a whisper, and Betty giggles again as she leans in for a kiss. It barely lasts two seconds before someone is scoffing in their direction.

“Get a room, Thelma and Louise,” Cheryl says, she shrugs her coat off as she stands in the doorway.

Veronica huffs a laugh, and Betty rests her head against hers.

“Cheryl, what are you-.” Archie tries.

“Don’t worry, Archie,” Veronica butts in, getting up and smoothing out her dress. “I invited her. I have a surprise.”

He furrows his brow, throwing his hands up. Only Veronica Lodge could hijack someone else’s party _and_ get away with it. “Ronnie, this is my house, where could you have-.”

“It’s in the garage, just give me a minute, alright? And someone make sure that Cheryl has her eyes closed!”

Everyone watches and listens anxiously as Veronica disappears out the back door. Two minutes later, she comes back with another Blossom in tow, and everyone’s jaws drop to the floor, a few gasps coming out; Cheryl grows annoyed, turning around.

“Lodge, what the hell could be- Jason!”

Cheryl all but throws herself into her brother’s arms, encouraging a chorus of aw’s from the crowd in the room.

“Hey, sis,” Jason says into her hair. “You didn’t actually think I’d miss the holidays, did you?”

Veronica steps back into the living room, giving them their space. She spots Kevin when she looks over her shoulder, a piece of paper in his hand. He steps forward, holding the paper out to her, it’s sealed with a Christmas sticker on one side.

“What’s this?” She asks, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s for you. It doesn’t have to be right now, but just- read it, okay?”

Kevin walks away, and Veronica is too curious to not rip into the letter right this second. On the inside of the is three small words right along the crease; they nearly bring her to her knees.

_I forgive you._

Veronica holds the letter to her chest, feeling as though she could cry. She looks up at Kevin, meeting his eye across the room. _Thank you_ , she mouths at him. He nods in return, and Veronica remembers that there’s one more gift that she needs to give out.

“Archie- where’s Jughead? I have something for him.”

“Uh, upstairs. I’ll go get him.”

Veronica rummages through her bag as Archie marches up the stairs. She’s finally found the box she’d been looking for when he comes back, a confused Jughead in tow.

He makes a face that says _this better be good_.

She holds it out to him, reveling in the surprised look on his face once he realizes what it is.

“Wait, are these-.”

“Hearing aids. Absolutely. You can refuse them if you’re not interested, but they’re all yours if you want them.”

Jughead stares at the box for a long time before looking up at Archie, eyes wide. “What should I-.”

“Do it, dude. Open them!” Archie says, excited.

Jughead takes off the lid as careful and gingerly as he can, keeping everyone on their toes. He hooks them over his ears, feeling around until he finds the _on_ switch. Jughead looks up at Archie, signing: say something.

“Juggie? Can you hear me?”

Jughead’s eye wrinkle at the edges, mouth stretching wide. He makes a sound similar to a laugh, says, “It’s deeper than I remembered.”

All of the girls aw; Archie reaches out, giving Jughead a handshake and a fistbump. The smile on his face is one that even his oldest friends haven’t seen in nearly a year.

Jughead gets up, moving towards the stairs, box still in hand.

“Wait, Jug, where are you going?”

“What the hell does it look like I’m doing?” he says, hands held out. “I’m gonna go finish my movie. You guys can talk my ear off some other time.”

Jughead retreats upstairs, and everyone- mainly Archie, Betty, and Veronica- barely make it five seconds before bursting out into laughter. Jughead always has been an introvert at heart.

As the party goes on, Veronica finds herself just watching everyone more than actually socializing. She watches couples like Archie and Val talk animatedly with each other on the love seat. While Kevin and Moose, on the other hand, stay on opposite ends of the couch, but still smile at each other every chance that they get.

Just as well, she’s not ashamed to admit how much time she spends looking at Betty- Veronica likes spending her time looking at beautiful things, alright?

Betty notices after a while, asking, “What is it? What are you thinking about?”

“Everything. All of us.” she says, smiling. “We’ve all had quite a shit year, but we still made it out alive. I’m glad to be here with everyone, here with you. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Betty kisses her, and Veronica cradles her hand with her face. Privately, though, she wishes that she had gotten here soon, wishes she’d realized just how much she was actually missing. Now that she’s got it, Veronica has no plans of letting go. Not now, not ever.

This is exactly where she was meant to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who read and left a review on my fic! I appreciate you all very much. Thanks again to my beta and lovely friend, Erin (wingedbears). She's great and you guys should go read her fics, like, right now. You can still find me on tumblr as archieandrewsprotectionsquad. 
> 
> Let's hope that season three doesn't fuck us over too much. I'll see y'all on the other side of this premiere.

**Author's Note:**

> Good? Bad? Indifferent? Let me know!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments/Kudos are encouraged and greatly appreciated! You can find me on tumblr as archieandrewsprotectionsquad. Thanks again for reading, have a great day!


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